A weather realted compromise!

Babies in the porch

It's cold and the weather man is calling for snow tomorrow night. Spring is such a struggle, old man winter doesn't want to let go and baby spring keeps pecking away at him! A quick look at the garden journal from 2010 shows the kind of weather that allowed the pepper starts to live outside each day with a trip into the porch for sleeping. This year the peppers are still in the newly expanded sprouting cave. A newly purchased portable greenhouse stands empty as the temperatures are too low at night to leave the tender babies out there at night. A check on the Farmer's Almanac indicates a cooler, wetter spring. What does it all mean?

The Growing Cave

Challenges for the home gardener, close watch of the weather and patience! Spring will come, and we will play outside in the dirt. Never fear, there are seeds that can be planted outside now, despite the chilly temperatures. For an early harvest plant the following cool loving crops: radish, lettuce, carrots, chard, beets, broccoli, cabbage, kale and onions. For those familiar with the walking onion, or Egyptian onion, you will notice how happy they are and the cool temperatures won't hurt them. Garlic sprouts should be happily shooting up now as well, if the cloves were planted in the fall, that is!

For some green therapy, check out your perennial herb garden. Even in Minnesota with the kind of winter we just lived through you should see some sprouts on the oregano, thyme, sage, hyssop, lambs quarters, wormwood and chives. I am constantly amazed in the spring when these little lovelies show up. Such tenacity!

What? Really, a leek!

A quick survey of the garden a couple of weeks ago yielded a few surprises! A garden bed that never got put away last fall (sheer laziness, no plan or thought behind leaving it!) contained a few leek and kale "bodies".  I tried to pull them out, thinking surely they didn't survive, but they were frozen solid into the dirt. Then of course I got busy with starting seeds and generally praying for some sunshine. Low and Behold...the leeks turned green and are very much alive. Huh. The allium family is hearty, but I never would have guessed they would survive! Looks like a bounty of leek seeds for this gardener this year!


So, never fear, the spring will come and the plants promise to amaze you! See you in "The Backyard"!

Some thoughts on dirt

The snow is melting, and we will soon be in flood season. That's the season that determines just how quickly we get to get out in the garden. When is the right time to get out there and start planting? How do you know if the dirt is in good shape? How do you read a soil test? Does everyone need a soil test? What is going on under there? How much water is too much water? And really, why is it dirt sometimes and soil other times?

This all reminds me of my garden mentor, who has been gardening at her home since 1954, a relentless composter and add-er of organic matter and manure. One day while I was visiting her vast and prolific vegetable garden, she innocently said to me in her exasperation, "You know Sara, the longer I do this the less I know!" Oh, no was all that ran through my mind. It was then that I decided it was time to look into the dirt and see just how does a person know if they have the good stuff?

During my search, I stumbled across an excellent 10 point test for soil quality, called The Willamette Valley Soil Quality Guide, and was developed by the Oregon State University Extension Service. So, here goes an easy way to look at your own dirt (paraphrased, of course):

1. Grab a handful and squeeze it. Does it hold it's shape? Does it crumble into pieces? When you look at it does it have different sized "bits" in it? If it looks pretty uniform and crumbles into pieces or stays in big hard clods, it needs some work.
2. Stick a wire into the soil and measure how far down it will go into the dirt before bending (the utility marking flags are a perfect use for this, after they have come to mark your yard for lines when you plan your next garden expansion project). The farther down it goes the softer the soil, and that makes for easy traveling for the roots.
3. When you till or fork over the garden bed, does it stay in clods? If so, it could mean you have low "workability" which translates into the roots having a difficult time getting water.
4. Life forms are key, dig a 6 inch hole and see how many different species of the shy dirt lovers you have, such as centipedes, spiders, beetles and more. A good number is 10 little critters creeping.
5. Earthworm count! Stick a spade in the ground and pull up a spadeful of dirt and count how many worms you have...3 is good 5 is better.
6. When you use a hand trowel to dig a little hole, say 3-4 inches deep, can you see recognizable plant material in the dirt? It's good if you can, because that is what feeds the life forms in the soil.
7. The easiest, and perhaps most overlooked is how are your plants doing? Are they vigorous? If not, it could be somethings amiss in the ground.
8. Roots tell the tale, pull up a sacraficial plant, is the root ball well developed, does it have fine white hairs? If it's brown and mushy it could mean that your dirt is not draining well. If they look stunted it could mean compacted soil or disease.
9. How does the water run? Take the bottom off an old coffee can, bury it in the dirt, until just 3 inches of the can show above the ground, and fill it with water 2 or 3 times. Fill it once more and time it to see how long it takes to soak into the ground, if it's anything slower than 1/2 to 1 inch per hour the soil is compacted.
10. Water availability, wait for a soaking rain and see how long it takes before your plants start looking wilty. If it seems like this happens quickly it could be the dirt is to blame.

These 10 steps won't tell you what is actually in your soil and a soil test from the local extension is a good idea to know where you are and help determine where you want your dirt to be. I always recommend a lead test in urban or suburban areas, because we just don't know what may have been dumped or spilled in the area where we dream of putting a garden.

To put things more simply, it can be boiled down to organic matter, the more plant-y type stuff mixed in with the dirt particles the better. What a garden does to enhance the area where the roots are is the real home work, the appearance, vigor, beauty and yield of the plant is simply the grade on the work done below. The level of organic matter be the deciding factor in how quickly you get to start playing in the dirt without risking season long struggles with dried mud balls, organic matter determines how much life your dirt supports, it will determine how much watering you have to do and this is what ultimately determines if you have dirt or if you have soil.

Cuttings...a success story!

 

The great willow experiment is now in phase 2, with great success. The sweet bay laurel and rosemary cuttings have been transferred to a more permanent home. The cuttings sat in the kitchen window marinating in a hormonal tea created using the heart wood from a branch of a willow tree. The picture on the left illustrates the hearty growth of the roots from one of the jars of rosemary cuttings. During the first stage of rooting a slimy clump can be seen at the base of the cuttings, it is from this goo that the roots start emerging, demonstrated by the bay on the right.

My impatience for dirty fingers, spring fever and a snow storm yesterday brewed up the perfect situation for transplanting the cuttings. I used a seed starting mix with beneficial bacteria and fungi add to facilitate strong growth. When transplanting any plant, make sure that you have all the supplies readily at hand. I soak the planting medium in warm water for about an hour before starting to make sure that the root fibers have a ready supply of water as soon as they are plucked from the jar. Make sure you have enough pots for the cuttings and you are ready to go!

Each cutting with attached root goo and root fibers are carefully lifted out of the jar and gently placed in a 3" pot filled with medium 1" from the top. When transplanting these tender babies, carefully lay the root fibers in a hole you have made in the medium trying not to tangle or break them. Then carefully fill in the hole and press gently to make sure there is good contact between the root fibers and the medium. Then pour a bit of the willow water into the pot. Using a tray under the pots to catch any water will make for a hassle free indoor garden. To further pamper your new plants, you can create the perfect conditions for strong root growth by using a heating mat to keep the root zone toasty warm.

When starting any new plantings in the house during the cold winter months, make sure that you check on them at least every other day, they will be happy to see you. Your biggest concern will be watering, keep them damp, but don't drown them by leaving the tender roots to wallow in water. 

Thoughts on Garlic

Did you plant garlic last fall? Are you wondering what's happening down there when the weather is cold, the ground is frozen and covered with snow? It's simply miraculous, not to mention delicious. Garlic prefers the security of it's underground home.

Properly planted garlic is in the ground in the fall, thus giving it time to establish roots before a long winter nap. When the ground starts to thaw, that hearty little plant gets going. Often showing green shoots before anything else in the garden wakes up. There are two types of garlic (and possibly thousands of varieties!), hard and soft neck. The hard necks tend to be stronger and more vigorous and perhaps better suited to northern climates. Soft neck varieties are thought to store better and may not emerge in the spring with as much enthusiasm.

So, the plant grows and the leaves emerge and get full and beautiful. Each of those leaves indicates a layer of the papery skin that covers the bulb that is developing underground. Right through the center of those leaves a tall funny flower stem will emerge that will eventually form a curly cue flower on the end, this is called a scape. An often overlooked delicacy that your garlic plant provides.

The scape can be cut off, providing more energy to the plant to make a bigger bulb. The flavor burst from this harvest is an excellent addition to pasta, can be grilled, pickled, made into pesto or sauteed. It is not a typical "dead head", it is a harvest to be sure. A quick pickle recipe would be to throw a few whole peppercorns into a clean glass jar, along with a hot pepper perhaps and the very clean scapes (which can be cut up to better fit into the jar). Make a brine with salt, vinegar and water, bring it to a boil and fill the jar. Refrigerate for 4 weeks and you have a super treat to add to salads, soups or to eat straight from the jar.

Back to the leaves. They are important, because they are the gardeners only indication of maturity without digging up a bulb. The general rule of thumb is wait until the bottom few leaves are dying back, this is an indication of the plant nearing the end of it's life cycle. When digging garlic, be careful, they are tender and thin skinned and can be easily damaged with a careless shovel. Remember that for the garlic plant, it's a bit like birth at this stage, so go easy with them. This is the stage where I receive many a phone call...Why is my garlic dying? It's not, it's ready!

Now what, you have this pile of leaves, bulbs and dirt? Garlic needs curing for a bit. It is really delicious at this stage and can be eaten, but it stores best for future use with a little "hanging out"! Simply bundle the garlic together in bunches of about 15-20 plants and hang them in an area away from direct sun and let them dry (a little breeze is great too). When the skin feels papery, trim off the tops, knock off the dirt and enjoy. It is at this point that I advise selecting those bulbs that will be held back for replanting in the fall. Chose the largest bulbs and remember that each clove will bring you a whole bulb next year.

One of the most rewarding crops in my mind, I have a fascination with it. The tenacity and simplicity the adaptability and the taste, what could be better? An ancient plant that has evolved and adapted based on human intervention and desire, what a treat! If you have never planted garlic, I suggest giving it a try. Start with organic garlic, preferably grown in your area by a reputable farmer or friend. Plant it sometime in early October, about 3-4 inches deep, pointed end of the clove goes up, cover with about 3-4 inches of mulch and wait for the show!

 Happy Gardening! See you in "The Backyard"!

A New Year and a New Method

Happiest of New Years to you! The snow is deep now, like a snuggly winter blanket for the garden, allowing us gardeners to dream of the coming season. It's time already for such things as seed catalogs, endless garden plot maps and reviewing last year's garden journal. I wanted to write about rooting plants today, as I recently learned a new process for success. The willow tree is naturally prolific in the wild, many people find them somewhat invasive. There is a way to utilize these plants to promote growth in your cuttings, plant starts and the garden itself. The willow tree possesses natural rooting hormones and can be utilized for such uses.

The process is quite simple, essentially like making tea. Trim a green branch that is about the width of a pencil and smash it with a hammer to expose the tender inside. Cut the smashed branch into one inch sections and drop them in boiling water. Turn off the heat as soon as you drop the willow sections in the water and let them steep until the "tea" is cooled. Strain the water and you have a powerful rooting compound. To use simply dip the end of a 4 inch cutting, with the bottom leaves removed, into the willow water and place in a container. Cuttings can be rooted in water or soil. If water is your preferred method, steer away from clear glass containers as the light that comes through the glass can slow root growth. Another way around this is to wrap a bag or cloth around the jar to keep the light out. This powerful root accelerant can be used for young transplants to encourage root growth as well!

I am using this method, for the first time, on these cold winter days to root rosemary and bay trees for the coming season. Both of these herbs are tender perennials and will not survive winters outside here in Minnesota, so they come inside and spend the winter in my only appropriate south facing window. Currently, my rosemary and bay tree look a little "Dr. Seussian" as they are are the yearly donors for the next season's crop. Both of my rosemary and bay plants have survived for 5 years now and seem to thrive as a result of their yearly pruning. I have rooted both of these plants in the past using no rooting medium. The success rate was not as high as I would have liked, and in fact last year 25% of the cuttings did not take.

Why should you root plants? First, plants are often expensive to replace and starting your own in the midst of the winter's chilly grip allows the fervent gardener to play with plants in a way that feels like cheating winter! If the cuttings are taken from a healthy plant, you are making clones that perhaps are more suited to the environment in which they will thrive. Plants also make great gifts and when edible provide gifts to the gardener beyond their intrinsic beauty.

I will be tracking the progress of my little herb forest and report back! In the meantime, dream wildly of your garden for the coming season! See you in the backyard!

The Big Beet and the King a Progress Report!

The big beet experiment appears to be working! It's such an exciting adventure in which to be apart. The leaves have stretched out and turned into branches, which required an unused tomato cage to contain. As I mentioned in the last post, it is a rewarding experiment, which will become part of the regular garden routine for this garden gal. Seed saving is an integral part of connecting ourselves to our food and our land. Remember that only open pollinated or heirloom varieties produce seed that is true to the "parent" plant.


The King of the North pepper is also going smoothly, flowers abound and peppers are setting well. Just before taking these pictures I caught a robin picking through the pot to find a big fat worm. A great reminder that when gardening in containers it is very important to keep them well watered. This ensures that the garden helpers who migrate up the drain holes in your containers don't fry in the hot sun, especially in the clay pots. This is another experiment I will repeat. If the King sees fit, I will take him in the house again this fall. I wonder how many years the King has?

I wish you great garden success! See you in "The Backyard"!

Progress Report on Experiments

Last fall I outlined two garden experiments I was planning to undertake for this year's growing season. The first was a King of the North sweet pepper that I wanted to overwinter in the house, the second was a giant Detroit Dark Red beet from which I wanted to collect seed.

Peppers, or more properly, chilies are not annual plants in their native environment, but here in Minnesota (and much of the US) peppers are grown primarily as annuals. So, last spring, I planted my most vigorous King of the North start in a pot, with the intention of bringing the whole works in the house. There were trials and tribulations. The plant suffered in the presence of low light and I believe that made it susceptible to aphids that must have come inside with it. Daily bug squashing and 4 doses of Neem Oil at weekly intervals took care of that problem. I did end up cutting it way back, leaving just a few leaves, so it is not (and still isn't) a very attractive plant to display in the living room. The second major issue that the plant suffered is a lack of temperature. I keep my home at 60 degrees in the winter and that is just not typically the temperature range in which peppers are happiest. This coolness, combined with lack of light and the aphids caused the leaves to yellow and eventually all the leaves from last summer fell off. I am happy to report that the plant is enjoying much more light and is making new leaves and even flower buds! It is still too early to put "the King" back out doors, but I have great hope that it will be an early producer and will overcome the awful haircut it received last fall.

The Detroit Dark Red beet is a much smoother success story. I wavered back and forth on the storage options for the beet through the long winter. I decided against storing the beet in sand in a cool, dark corner of the basement. I wrapped "big beet" in two layers of newspaper and stored it in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. I picked a day that seemed early enough in the spring, but still cool enough to freeze and opened the bag. I was so tickled to see that there were new leaves forming and it had not gotten soft or rotten on the tap root. I then dig a hole big enough for "big beet" and planted it out in the garden. I am happy to report that this experiment is going quite smoothly, and "big beet" is pumping out new leaves and hopefully when the time is right it will flower and make a multitude of seeds.

Good Luck with your garden experiments!

See you in "The Backyard"!

Big Big Mr. Beet

The Big Beet Experiement is nearly complete. Mr. Beet lasted all winter in the refrigerator and has been planted out in the garden. He was stored wrapped in two sheets of newspaper and stored in a plastic produce bag in the crisper. He emerged solid without evidence of rotting and even little baby sprouts shooting from the top. So, out to the garden he goes, planted so that the top is out of the soil, being careful to keep the roots straight, add a good bit of watering and wait to see what happens. The point of overwintering this beet and replanting him is to save seed.

This beet became a candidate for seed saving as a result of it's vigor in the garden, (it grew well and fast), and it's resistance to insect damage (when all the leaves on my other beets were ravaged, this one stood tall and undamaged!). Beets and other roots are biennial plants, in that they produce seeds the second year. So, Mr. Big Beet hopefully will flower and make seeds which I will collect to use in the future. The variety of this beet is called Detroit Dark Red, this beet variety is one on offer by Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, IA. Seed Savers Exchange promotes heirloom, open pollinated varieties in an effort to maintain the genetic heritage and diversity of our food crops. They also work with heritage breeds of chickens, ducks, turkeys, cattle and apple breeds. The work they do helps to combat the monopolization of our food system by companies who seek to patent genetic material and control the food chain from "birth" to plate. Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit and do tremendous work on behalf of anyone who eats! (http://www.seedsavers.org/)

Spring is Exploding!

It's time again, this year I think it's sneaking up faster than last year, at least here in Minnesota. I have tons of seedlings started, some more ready than others, all following their own path. The "green house" in the basement is serving well for the heirloom starts, everything from herbs to broccoli. No signs of damping off, and the germination mats are doing the trick.

After some welcome publicity, the client list expanded by 246% this season, holy buckets! There will be home gardens all over the land at this rate, which is the goal. Why is that the goal you ask? It's all about the food, it's just plain better if you grew it yourself! Heaping portions of pride and accomplishment, with dashes of dispair at times, the whole plate covered with a lovely gravy of nurturing.

What's the secret to keeping plants happy? The same thing as keeping relationships happy, pay attention! and when you can do something good, do it! How you care for your seedlings and plant starts now, has a direct effect on how they produce for you later. The classic plant start is the tomato, it seems everyone wants to grow tomatoes. Here are some rules of thumb...don't start them too early or they get leggy and weak, give them a bigger "home" if they grow out of the old one (don't assume that it will be okay until you plant it out-it's like wearing shoes that are too small, NO GOOD!). When you pot up the seedling, treat it carefully and give it lots of nice new dirt in which to play. Do let it get used to the sun and wind gradually by hardening off, meaning that the plants get ever slightly more exposure to the bright sun and wind over a period of 1-2 weeks. Don't get fooled by a nice warm spell, it could freeze again...wait until at least your average last frost date to plant it outside.

In the meantime, remember that certian things can be direct seeded now, even if it does freeze again. The list includes lettuce, spinach, radish, broccoli, cabbage, dill, beets and carrots. That certianly isn't a complete list but it will get you through the afternoon garden therapy session anyway!

Good Luck, See you in The Backyard!
www.thebackyardgrocery.com

Is it time yet? Maybe yes, maybe no...

For the gardener, January is pure torture and delight! The seed catalogs show up and they have all these wonderful glossy pictures, filled with promises of "heavy yields" or "top producer", they promise resistance to drought or heat or cold or disease or infestation and they comfort the agitated gardener who looks upon the garden covered in a blanket of snow and can do nothing but think of spring. I have made my decisions, which as soon as the weather warms, I will abrubtly change I am sure. I have placed my orders, mixed up the starting medium, sanitized my pots and now I wait. Depending on your climate, it may be time to start seeds and get things started, but up here in Zone 4 we wait, or suffer the consequences. In fact for some plants I will wait 2 more months, for others I will wait just a few more weeks. As always, I am firmly on the heirloom side of vegetable gardening, they are true and proven, beautiful and delicious. Check out Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, IA (http://www.seedsavers.org/) for a complete run down on what they are doing to save our genetic seed heritage. The have started with heritage variety poultry and have some White Park Cattle, which I find to be about as beautiful as can be.

Here's a list of things that I start in February:
Chives, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Peppers (hot and sweet), Onions, Shallots

Remember to use sterilized starting medium, be careful with the watering (bottom watering is best), and give the little planties some good old fashioned heat and light. Heat mats can be purchased, but heating pads or electric blankets seem to work just as well. No need to purchase the fancy "grow lights" I have had great luck with regular florescent lights (warm and cool to cover as much of the spectrum as possible).

Here's what I am dealing with these days:

Happy dreaming to you all!

Happy New Year: what will you do differently this year?

Happy New Year! It is a special one this time around, a full moon, a blue moon, and it only comes around every 19 years on this day/night. Reflective time, this New Year's Eve. This is the day I review my garden journal. I can't be disciplined enough to maintain a personal journal, to log my success, failure, torments and triumphs, but I can do it for the garden, meticulously. In many ways it reflects how I feel personally as well. You know, sometimes there is just too dang much of something when you are sick of it (zucchinis in August or a particularly irritating co-worker) or not enough of something you feel you really need (Brussel's sprouts or vacation time for example). Personal triumphs are like harvesting your first head of cauliflower, or managing to fend off the tomato blight long enough to get sort of sick of tomatoes. The garden, for those of us who are affected with "gardenitis" (the gardening sickness, that causes lawns everywhere to recoil in fear of getting turned under), the garden is not only our respite and meditation, it also has the capacity to harbor the bane of our existance (imported cabbage worms, yucky!).

So, what will I do differently this year:
I will not be signing up for the same old thing! Change will come and I will like it!
I will NOT overplant the beds so they become these uncontrollable, tangled, mongrel children wrecking    havoc on my harvesting and sense of order!
I will police the pest situation with more vigilance.
I will plant turnips, because I love them.
I will spend more time enjoying the rock chair I built in the garden 2 summers ago and have yet to use for it's intended purpose (drinking an ice cold beer after a great day working in the garden).

Looking over my list, it seems pretty manageable. What is in your personal journal you would like to take out to the garden? What is in your garden journal you would like to bring into yourself? What will you do differently?

Is it winter? The holdouts...

It's November 18th, the mighty big beet is still "living" and I imagine that at some point it will tell me when it's time to come inside for the winter. The smaller, little sister beets, are still in the garden and just when I think the greens are surely dead this time, they pop right up when the sun hits them. Lettuce, believe it or not, it's still hanging in there too. Last but not least is the kale, this leafy green takes a 24 degree temperature and shakes it right off, no babying for this hardy plant.

The Big Beet, or BB is coming inside for a seed saving experiment. I am going to pluck it from it's mulch-y outdoor home, trim off the not yet dead leaves, and pack it in clean dry sand for the winter. I think an ice cream bucket should be just the right size for BB. The plan is that it will stay "alive" enough through the winter to rise again next spring. I will plant it out in the garden and BB should make some seeds. The beet is a member of the Amaranth family and is a biennial, which means that it flowers the second year. So, apparently, if I can keep ol' BB going, I should be able to collect some seeds once the plant flowers. A new experiment for me.

Seed saving is as old as agriculture, where the plants that produce the most desirable characteristics, ie. tastiness, earliness, hardiness or disease resistance, were allowed to flower and set seed for planting the following season. Each plant has a special way it likes to have it's seeds treated to maximize germination, and some like BB take a little more time than others. The easiest seeds to save are the legumes, beans and peas. They are a nice workable size and don't require much fussing, just dry the pods and pack them away (be careful to label them!). Tomato seeds need to ferment in order to germinate which can be a smelly process indeed! Hybrid plants are not suited for seed saving, as the offspring of such combinations will not be true to the parent. The best varieties to save seed from are the wind pollinated varieties many are heirloom varieites that have been passed down for many generations. If you have a variety of vegetable, flower, herb or fruit that you particularly enjoy, I recommend investigating how to save the seeds and share them with friends to maintain our agricultural gene pool.

See you in the backyard!

The "King" and I

After loving the wonderfully unseasonable temperatures the last two weeks it came, the cold. Whew! This morning was chilly. I pulled out the tomato and eggplant plants yesterday, and covered the peppers (which are doing really well this year!). Early in the planting season, I chose a few pepper plants to put in pots, as I had more than I could use in the garden. These plants have been in a race to see which would be the strongest and most prolific. I was forced to pick a winner yesterday, and my heirloom bell pepper, King of the North variety, was the clear winner. It has nice fruits and a few blossoms. It is my experiment pepper, I am going to baby it until next year. Peppers are native to Central and South America, so they like it warm, far warmer than Minnesota to be sure. I am going through with the experiment to see how this particular variety fares in the less than full sun and some what chilly temps that we have here, even in the house.

The fall is a great, sad time for me. I am in a rush of canning, fermenting and drying foods, trying to keep in mind all the mental notes about how the garden went and planning for next year. My first timer clients are busy with their homework as well, they are reviewing their own gardens and thinking about changes for next year. This is one great reason for a garden journal, even just a notepad to jot down a random thought, something like "The beets were very happy next to the fence this year", or "I will never again try to plant 8 pepper plants in 3 square feet of garden bed" you get the idea. The garden wrap up and planning sessions are the only lessons left for the year. The sad part is the lack of the garden and the looming cold. So, this is why I have choosen the "King" to hang around for the winter, perhaps he and the "Herbs" can arrange a gathering in the skillet.

September Heat

This morning I picked another basket of tomatoes. Despite the blight, it seems the little guys just keep coming. It's time for another batch of canning. The September heat has been helpful in the garden this fall to say the least. Peppers, corn, squash, beans, beets, lettuce and cabbages are all doing well. Cabbages, ah yes well, the ever icky cabbage worms are in force this year. Daily picking works, but they just won't quit! Yucky little squirmy things, they smell like cabbage when you squish them. There are 2 types that I have trouble with, imported cabbage worms (pictured above)and cabbage loopers (pictured below). The worms are about an inch long, and kind of fat and eat big holes in the leaves, the loopers are shorter and slimmer and eat smaller holes. They both like the bottom side of the leaves, but the worms also can be spotted on the tops. I just pick 'em off and step on them. I have a smaller than desired cabbage harvest this year, but it looks like the fall crop may hold it's own as long as I keep picking. Today I mention the cabbage interlopers because I found two of the big worms on the kitchen counter after setting the basket of tomatoes there this morning. The little guys are so prevelant in the garden that they found their way into the house, either on the basket or the fruits themselves. So, I wish you continued happiness in the garden, bug picking and all.

tomato blight

Although the tomatoes have done their share of producing in the backyard grocery test plots, I'm disappointed by the blight. Blight is a fungus that affects plants in the tomato family (which also includes eggplant, peppers and potatoes) The best ways to avoid getting the blight is to mulch well, to prevent "splash back" from the rain, give each plant enough room, don't water in the evening or from overhead and if the tell tale spots do show up, remove any affected leaves or branches promptly. When the season is over, be sure to remove any sick leaves and plants and do not add them to the compost pile and be sure when planning for next year to move tomato family plants to a different area of the garden.

My first time gardeners have enjoyed an abundance of tomatoes this season, all heirloom varieties that consistently deliver in the taste department. One of the most popular was the Cherokee Purple variety a deep colored tomato that ripens to purple and has a rich tomato flavor.

Heirloom varieties produce vegetables that are not your typical grocery store varieties. These are old timey plants that have been phased out of our vegetable lexicon due to their incompatibility with our industrialized mono crop farms, mechanical harvest, inconsistent sizing and an inability to ship long distances, they also have not been genetically modified. How a seed variety qualifies for the heirloom title is under debate. Many gardeners agree that a variety introduced before 1945 qualifies for heirloom status as this indicates the end of World War II, an increase in industrialized agriculture and more widespread use of hybridized seeds.

Pictured: Bulgarian Carrot Pepper, hot heirloom pepper that dries well and adds briliant color to any dish.

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